ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Off the heels of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration rejecting a proposed Advanced Placement African American studies course, College Board announced it will release the official framework for the AP African American Studies course.
The framework has been in the developmental stage since March 2022 and will replace the preliminary pilot course framework that has been under discussion, College Board said in a statement.
Behind the scenes, College Board allows a small number of high schools to pilot the course to gather feedback from high schools and colleges before broadening the course's availability.
"The official course framework incorporates this feedback and defines what students will encounter on the AP Exam for college credit and placement," College Board said in a news release.
The framework will be released on Feb. 1, the first day of Black History Month.
During a news conference Monday, DeSantis explained why the AP African American course in Florida was nixed, stating the proposed course was "indoctrination, not education."
"In Florida, our education standards do not prevent, but require teaching Black history ... that’s part of our core curriculum. This (AP African American studies) was a separate course for advanced placement credit," DeSantis said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Education released a statement last week on its decision to cancel the course, which stated in part, "as presented, the content of this course is inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value." The department also cited the inclusion of political literature from many Black scholars, feminists, writers and activists. Other topics in the proposed course at odds with the department include reparations and intersectionality, according to FDOE.
First Coast News contributed to this report.